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Causes of 18-Wheeler Trucking Accidents: Driver Fatigue

How a tired truck driver can become a dangerous truck driver

Driver fatigue is one of the most common causes of, or a significant contributing
factor to, accidents in which an 18-wheeler is involved. Despite changes
in federal driving regulations, and in individual trucking company policies
that were implemented to reduce incidents of driver fatigue, less than
alert driving is often cited as a factor in 18-wheeler accidents.

According to traffic safety experts, the greatest contributor to driver
fatigue is the number of hours that a driver has been “on duty.”
On duty hours are calculated as the number of hours spent while actually
driving plus the number of hours spent on non-driving tasks such as loading
and unloading cargo, fueling, and vehicle maintenance tasks.

The second-greatest contributor to driver fatigue is the fact that drivers
are frequently working at odds with their body’s circadian rhythm,
the body’s natural awake-sleep cycle. Drivers whose routes carry
them through time zone changes or requires them to work at hours when
they would normally be asleep are more susceptible to slower reaction
times and clouded judgement when faced with the need to make split second
decisions.

Federal regulations that govern how many hours the driver of a Commercial
Motor Vehicle (CMV) can work in a 24-hour period without taking a mandatory
rest period and the number of hours that can be worked in a 7-day period
are set by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, a division
of the US Department of Transportation (DOT).

For purposes of hours of service regulations, a CMV is defined by the Motor
Carrier Safety Administration as being

any vehicle having a gross vehicle weight of 10,001 pounds or more

any vehicle designed or used to transport more than 8 passengers (including
the driver) for compensation

any vehicle designed or used to transport more than 15 passengers (including
the driver) and is not used to transport passengers for compensation

any vehicle used to transport hazardous materials requiring the vehicle
to be marked or placarded under the hazardous materials regulations

As of November, 2016 the limits placed on the number of hours “in
service” or “on duty” for drivers of a non-passenger
carrying CMV are:

11 hours of driving or a total of 14 hours on duty must be followed by
a minimum of 10 hours off duty

no more than 60 hours in 7 consecutive 24-hour days (for carriers not operating
7 days per week)

no more than 70 hours in 8 consecutive 24-hour days (all other carriers)

Drivers of passenger-carrying vehicles cannot drive for more than 10 hours
or have been on duty for more than 15 hours without being off duty for
8 hours. Otherwise, the 7 and 8 day rules are the same as for non-passenger drivers.

In the past, drivers on big rigs were required to document their hours
of on and off duty time in log books that were to be kept up to date by
the driver and were subject to inspection at any time by law enforcement
officers. In practice, many drivers kept 2 or 3 log books (“lie
books”) that were used to hide the number of on duty hours.

The old paper log books are currently being phased out in favor of Electronic
Logging Devices (ELDs), which will record data such as whether or not
an engine was running, engine rpm, and even vehicle location via GPS coordinates.
Whether enterprising drivers will eventually find a way to defeat these
devices remains to be seen.

***

Despite the rules and regulations that have been set forth by the federal
government and the commercial transportation companies themselves, driver
fatigue remains so common among commercial interstate drivers that if
it can be shown that a driver has not complied with the hours on duty
followed by rest period regulations it can sometimes be taken as proof
that driver fatigue either caused or was a contributing cause to an 18-wheeler accident.

When establishing liability of a commercial trucking or a commercial passenger
carrier, it is essential for investigators to carefully scrutinize the
driver’s log books or Electronic Logging Device records for evidence
that the driver may have been fatigued and that fatigue was possibly a
significant factor in an accident. If a pattern of repeated violations
can be established, it will often be taken as strong evidence that the
carrier knew about these violations but took no action to discipline the driver.

No amount of evidence in your favor can be used to your best advantage
unless it is in the hands of a personal injury attorney who has experience
in managing cases where trucking companies are involved. Trucking companies
and their insurance carriers have a long record of trying to deceive accident
victims about the true value of their personal injury claims and will
do so again if given the chance.

Protect your legal rights to compensation for your injuries by retaining
the services of a personal injury lawyer with experience in truck accidents.

After an accident, the responsible party's insurance company may try
to reduce the claim amount. Commonly, insurance adjusters are trained
to get information from the
injured to assist in reducing the claim. Though some insurers are less guilty
of this practice than others, it is important to realize that insurance
companies are profit-oriented corporations and reducing claims results
in increased profits for shareholders. This can create a situation for
the injured in which they are offered a settlement that does not truly
reflect the damages suffered. If you accept this settlement, you lose
the ability to get more money should your injuries require further medical
treatments. It is critical that victims get legal assistance in any personal
injury case, and
The Doan Law Firm is prepared to fight relentlessly for your rights.